The Greater Mekong Region comprising Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia presents an exciting opportunity for investors looking to gain exposure to the last frontier economies in Asia Pacific with the potential to experience high growth rates over an extended period of time based on strong fundamentals and improving regulatory environment.

The key trends supporting growth in the Greater Mekong Region are:

HIGH AND RESILIENT ECONOMIC GROWTH

• From 1993 to 2010, GMR’s GDP increased 4 fold to over USD 400 billion.
• Projected GDP growth of 6.6% from 2012 to 2017.
• The GMR has proven its ability to quickly recover after the global/regional recessions since 1997.

POSITIVE DEMOGRAPHICS

• Large population of 176 million people, expected to increase by 1.8 million each year for the next 5 years.
• The majority of the population is young and literate.

SUSTAINABLE DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION

• Domestic consumption is a larger portion of GDP compared to China and other export-driven countries.
• This has allowed the GMR economies to remain intact through the past global economic slowdowns.

RISING MIDDLE CLASS (ESPECIALLY IN THAILAND AND VIETNAM)

• The GMR’s middle class increased by 72.4 million people whilst their annual spending increased by USD 140.7m from 1990 to 2008.

LIMITED ACCESS TO CAPITAL (ESPECIALLY IN LAOS, CAMBODIA AND VIETNAM)

• Nascent capital markets (in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) and lack of readily available financing options presents opportunity for PE investors to identify and execute investments in scalable and economically viable projects with superior risk-return profiles.
• Borrowing is expensive due to high interest rates for Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.